seat comfort and reliability

2012 Golf, love the seats. Like others, it took a little adjusting to get right. Longest I've driven continuously so far is five hours, and my bottom was feeling fine.

Not sure about the Golf but I find the GTI is the most comfortable car I've owned. At 6' and 250, definitely not small but I like to feel like I don't have to hang on to the steering wheel when I'm taking that on-ramp. I feel that they are great fit for me. I also take long trips quite regularly just for fun and have never gotten out of my car sore or stiff.

I'd have to say go for the GTI, I got a great deal on mine and it puts a smile on my face every time I put my foot on the loud pedal.

I'm 6' and 190lbs and I like the seats and my brother does too. We went on a 2600 mile 1 week road trip with no issues and had no stops because of comfort. My mom doesn't really care for the GTI seats but only because the side bolster protrudes a little more than normal (which I like because I autocross).

I know someone said check out the GTI but I suggest not doing that if you're worried about reliability and cost. I love mine and have had no issues but cost for maintenance is going to be more expensive. If you get the DSG you have a $400-$800 service every 40k and you have a turbo that could fail on you (although I haven't heard of any issues with these cars yet, the K03 is fairly reliable for a turbo) along with other parts you wouldn't have to necessarily worry about in the NA 2.5L. Also, you're going to have more fun with the car and probably go through brakes more, and it's hard to resist a tune because of the the better gas mileage and way more power.

Hope this helps a bit.

Before purchasing my 2008 GTI, I had 11 Japanese cars. I would have been first in line to smash VW's and german cars because of the expensive repairs and poor reliability. I had friends with VW's and audis that had very bizarre electronics issues and coil packs blowing (one example: s4 sunroof would open randomly). However, I was always intrigued by German handling, the refined interior, the torque, and the ability to easily tune the turbo motors and have cheap, quick horsepower. So I bit the bullet. I had my 2008 gti with no issues, and now I have a 2012 gti because i like it so much. I don't think I'll go back to a Japanese car. As for reliability, I haven't had any issues at all, even with my stage 2 mk5, and now my k04 mk6. In the last two years, VW has made a lot of changes in the U.S market and they are going hard at our market, as there's a lot of opportunity for them to grow. The U.S VW president has said a number of times that a top priority is reliability. There's also a "cool" euro factor verse driving a civic that just blends in. A VW says something, where the honda doesn't really say anything

No problems at all with my 2010 Golf 2.5 with 55,000 kms. The only hiccup I've encountered was a thin nail through a tire which was patched by the dealership for free.

I came from a Volvo S70 with flatter seats & more legroom and was a touch reluctant at first (I'm 6' 180lbs). I got used to my golf's bolstered leather seats within a day and they since became my favourite facet.

These bad boys hold you snuggly (comfortably so) while cornering and gently "hug" the rest of the time. I'm not sure if you americans get leather in the 2.5 but these are the seats in my Golf Highline:

No problems at all with my 2010 Golf 2.5 with 55,000 kms. The only hiccup I've encountered was a thin nail through a tire which was patched by the dealership for free.

I came from a Volvo S70 with flatter seats & more legroom and was a touch reluctant at first (I'm 6' 180lbs). I got used to my golf's bolstered leather seats within a day and they since became my favourite facet.

These bad boys hold you snuggly (comfortably so) while cornering and gently "hug" the rest of the time. I'm not sure if you americans get leather in the 2.5 but these are the seats in my Golf Highline: